Delfords, Harwich

Ingleton Wood were engaged by Chelmer Housing Partnership (CHP) to redevelop the former Delfords factory site in Dovercourt to provide 66 new affordable homes. The former Delfords factory had been vacant for 10 years with many of the buildings fall into disrepair as well as causing wider community issues with vandalism.

The site covers an area of 1.7ha with most of this being occupied by derelict buildings or hard standing. The proposals seek to demolish all the existing buildings and remove the vast amount of contamination as well as forming a new site entrance that crosses part of a designated village green.

The site brings several challenges in terms of site levels, drainage, contamination and nesting birds. These have all been carefully considered through the design of the scheme in order to minimise cost and the amount of disruption to the local area.

A traditional design style was adopted for the scheme, however through careful use of building materials such as render and cladding we were able to achieve a contemporary aesthetic. Full height windows and projecting balconies were introduced to take advantages of the views across the Stour to the North, as well as providing new footpath links to the local surrounding area.

The finished project provides 66 much needed affordable homes within the Tendring District as well as achieving a significant milestone for CHP by proving them with their 10,000th affordable home.